Darkness is Ever Present
by Y do u mock me so
Summary: Continues 7 months from where the game left off following Alexandra Roivas trying to re-ajust to normal life but finds that her role of 'Guardian of Light' had not ended with the demise of Pious and the destruction of the ancients
1. Prologue

** Darkness Is Ever Present**

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**Authors note:** As the game fan's will know, I have made a slight alteration to the storyline. Alex is aided in defeating Pious by a vampire. The vampire is the person who delivers her a parcel at the end of the game but in my story she stays instead of fleeing. The story won't be too confusing to those who have not seen the game!

**Prologue**

_And so it has come to pass. Of the three Ancients, there is nothing. In their never-ending quest for dominance, the three brought don one another, the boundless Ulyoath defeated the strength of Chaturga, the mighty claws of Chaturga sliced Xel'otath, and the insanity of Xel'otath overwhelmed Ulyoath._

_Mantorok, the Keeper, bound in his temple, slowly festering, capable of only watching… plotting… _

_The guardian of Light killed the Liche, with the aid of her vampire accomplice. They returned the enchanted book to the place it formally resided in. The chosen souls who gave up their lives to defend the earth from Eternal Darkness are finally at rest._

_I, Hek'uté, the author of the tome, goddess to the Hellenic people, made partially immortal by ritual of the bones, watch. As I write, I think back to the words of the Liche, 'My Death is just the beginning,' and think of the chaos which is about to ensue. It will all start from the creatures which are about to depart from the gates of Ehn'gha to the world above. _

_They stands as forms shrouded by a black mist. Their form not yet chosen, yet their purpose already known. Try as I might, I am incapable of perceiving their thoughts. The darkness comes again, for that you can be certain! _


	2. An introduction to Darkness

**Disclaimers:** Apart from Alex and the random bone thief, the characters are mine, mwahahaha...yeah...

**Chapter 1 – An Introduction to Darkness**

'_..."Bored" just pounds through my throbbing head. Boredom is endless. Time to spare, and plenty of it, Time is ticking, slowly, slowly. Slowly. Eternity is timeless, eternity is endless. Boredom. Boredom...'_ - T'eyla Minh

Alex's mind drifted as the lecturer droned on. She curled her hair absent mindedly around her pen. Her hair was a honey blond which appeared to absorb the last of the fading sunlight. Her eyebrows and eyelashes shone brightly, as is the case with sun-darkened people.

She looked around to see if anyone else was as bored as she was. Suddenly she spotted Seamus, the Irish student from Dublin. In a crowd he would stand out - typically handsome, tall – over six feet with a muscular build and chiseled features. He noticed her and made his way towards her, knocking people with his bag as he went.

'Hi, how are you?' He asked, in his strongly accented voice.

'I'm good.' Alex replied without any enthusiasm. It was not that she disliked the Irishman, on the contrary she liked him very much but she was feeling depressed on this particular day.

He turned his head away from her and briefly tried to listen to what was being said. However his attention span lasts for about one minute and he continued the conversation.

'What's that ejit on about?'

'The third Sylow Theorem.'

'That's going to take me ages to copy up!'

'Well, you should have arrived at the lecture at the normal time like the rest of us!'

'You can hardly expect me to wake up at 8 to be here on time, especially not on a Monday morning!'

'Everyone else seemed to have managed it and besides, it's the evening!' Alex said sardonically and flicked her blonde hair from her eyes.

Seamus checked his watch and laughed to himself. 'Oh, so it is!'

The lecture finished and everyone rose from his or her seat to leave.

'Do you want to get something to eat?' Seamus asked.

Alex sighed to herself. 'Only if you're paying.'

'We'll decide when we get there!' Seamus informed her.

They set off across the campus grounds together. It was a clear night with few clouds, the stars twinkled in the heavens and the moon shone with a radiant glow, it would have been a romantic moonlit walk if only Seamus stopped talking. Alex though was barely listening and seemed to be preoccupied with something unknown to him. However, there came a point in their conversation, where Seamus could not ignore the fact that she was not listening at all to him.

'What are you thinking about? You're mind seems to be in the clouds today!' Seamus asked.

'About my grandfather's death.' She said ruefully. She would have added that she was also thinking of the tome made of human flesh, discovering she was the guardian of light and had teamed up with a supposed vampire to combat the ancient evil, but her instincts told her that it was unlikely that he would believe her.

'I'm sorry, I forgot.' He said sympathetically. 'Did they find out who murdered him?'

'It was – never mind. You wouldn't understand even if I told you.'

'Ah, go on!' He pleaded.

Alex shook her head. 'It's a rather sensitive subject.'

'Sorry... I'll control my morbid curiosity!'

She started to sob, but he was unsure of whether she was actually crying or if they were just crocodile tears. 'There, there,' he said reassuring her, 'it's understandable to still have strong feelings for your grandfather. Here, dry your tears.' He handed her a tissue and she dabbed her eyes.

'Dinner is on me, I think!' Seamus exclaimed, producing his wallet from his pocket. She laughed at him and took his hand.

He led her to the nearest restaurant. They ordered their food and Alex waited patiently for the food to arrive. Seamus, on the other hand, on his way to the toilet, knocked into a waiter, who spilt the soup over the trousers of another diner. The waiter apologised profusely and backed away, saying he will fetch something to clean him up. Unfortunately, he tripped over someone's bag and the rest of the soup went over another diner. The man stood up, grabbed the waiter by the collar and punched him in the face. The security guard strode over to where the incident was happening and pulled the man away from the waiter, effortlessly.

'Throw him out!' Cried the waiter, who now sported a bloody nose.

The man twisted out of the security guards grip and threw himself at the waiter. The security guard started to attack the man with a truncheon. At that point, the man's girlfriend started to scream hysterically and hit the security guard with her handbag. Some back up came and they were able to throw the man out, his girlfriend following shouting insults at the staff.

Seamus sat back down without Alex noticing. She, like all of the other diners, was watching this savage scene.

'Technically, I started that.' Seamus stated in a matter of fact tone.

Alex frowned at him. 'Don't say that too loudly! They might throw us out as well!' She whispered. He nodded in agreement.

The waitress came with their food not long after and placed it on the table. Seamus started to prod at his squid with his fork.

'Ha, would you look at that! They left the eyes in!' He prodded his fork into the squid's dark pink skin; its eyes bulged obscenely as he did this.

Alex paled and pushed her plate away from her. 'I'm not felling very good anymore!'

'Do you want me to take you home?'

'I don't want to be any trouble.' She trailed off.

'No, not at all! My cars parked nearby just let me finish my food.' He prodded it once more and then started to eat hurriedly. Alex took another look at the squid and rushed to the bathroom.

The bathroom was in a state of disrepair. The toilets were clogged up with human excrement and the murky water was up to the brim. However, if you are about to vomit, you tend not to be picky.

Alex started to throw up violently, unaware of the woman who walked past her cubicle. Something inside the woman began to take control of her and then threw her into a fit on the floor. Once the spasms had subsided she walked over to Alex's cubicle. She tried to open the door but was unsuccessful, since Alex had locked it.

While she was struggling with the door, Alex finished retching. 'Who's that? Alex cried out. The woman did not respond but continued trying to pull the door open. The woman stopped and backed away. Suddenly the creature inside her burst out, her insides splattered against the cubicle doors.

The creature jumped up and grabbed hold of the door of her cubicle with its powerful scythe like arms. She saw her chance and slammed the door into the wall. The creature slid down, temporarily stunned. She sprinted back to her table and urged Seamus to rise from his seat.

'Hold on! We can't leave yet! I haven't paid!' Seamus exclaimed.

At that moment, the creature burst through the door. It turned its small head around to pick a suitable victim and then slashed its way inside the security guard standing nearby. Alex's tugged at Seamus' T-shirt more frantically and grabbed his chestnut coloured hair.

'I can't explain right now, but we have to get out of here!' She urged him. Seamus left some money on the table and quickly followed her out.

'Do you have a car?' She asked panicking.

'Just round the corner, this way.' They ran in the direction that he indicated.

The creature was still in pursuit, using the truncheon to get people to move out of its way. He went outside and caught sight of Alex and Seamus running away. He followed them into the car park nearby.

Alex and Seamus arrived at the car. Both of them were leaning on it to catch their breath.

'A mini?' Alex managed to say between breaths.

'Nothing wrong with it!' Seamus replied offended. They both got in and Seamus reversed it out of the space. He was about to drive forward when he noticed a man standing about 50 meters ahead of him in the road.

'Don't just sit there! Drive!' Alex screamed.

'But, I'll run him over!' Seamus said in dismay.

'He's already dead.' She explained. 'So just put your foot on that fucking accelerator!'

Seamus was still confused, but there was not enough time to explain it further. The man had started to approach them slowly; wary in case they might drive into him. Alex slammed her foot down on the accelerator. The man hit the windscreen and went 15 foot into the air. He landed hard on the ground, his body broken by the fall. He became no use to the creature, so it burst out from inside him. It ran after them for about half a minute, and then stopped realising it was futile. It gave up the chase and stalked off, looking for another victim.

'What the hell was that?' Seamus cried looking back.

'Keep your eyes on the road!' Alex shouted. 'I'm surprised that you passed your driving test!'

'Take a deep breath and then breathe out slowly!' Seamus said trying to calm her down; his efforts were reward by a glare. 'Do you know what it was?'

She took a deep breath. 'It was a bone thief.'

'A what?'

'It goes inside a person and controls them by pushing their souls into the back of the skull. They try to put up the appearance of being normal, but they converse strangely. I believe they are telepathic and can read the thoughts of others. So if person becomes able to see past the veil of -' she trailed off.

'Past the veil of what?'

'I don't want to drag you into this.' Alex said.

'The veil of I don't want to drag you into this? That's a strange thing to see past!' Seamus said confused.

'No, that's not it! I shouldn't tell you! It's better if you don't know. Forget it!'

'What happens once you see past this 'veil'?' Asked Seamus, she now had his full attention and he was not willing to let the subject drop.

Alex reluctantly continued. 'If you can see past the veil, a bone thief will change and attack you.'

'So that security guard knew?'

'No, the bone thief wanted to possess a new body, he was just unlucky.'

'How can you know if a person is real or if they have a bone thief inside?'

'I have been aware of their presence for years so I am able to tell by a person's smell. A bone thief smells in between the spice of vanilla and pestilent rot.' Alex informed him.

The explanation still confused him and he had many questions he wanted to her to answer but Alex shook her head and refused to tell him.

'Where's your home then?' He asked.

'About three blocks away.' She replied.

They traveled the rest of the journey in silence. They arrived outside her apartment block, they kissed and he bid her goodnight.

'I'm having a party at my house tomorrow, do you want to come?'

'I'll think about it.' She replied.

He watched her go inside, and then drove off, his mind preoccupied with thinking about the day's events. What was that creature? How did Alex know what it was? Why had he not seen something like that before in Ireland? He laughed to himself, 'only in America!


	3. The Malus Conspicere

**Darkness Is Ever Present**

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**Author's Note:** This organisation does not appear at all in the game, so don't go looking! The characters,except for the reference to the ancients,are mine - I am particularly fond of the main two....

**Chapter 13:2 – The Malus Conspicere**

'_...The one searching for mirth. In a darken world. We all make mistakes; Erring, a human state....'_ – Jane Rochester

'Malus Conspicere' is a branch off the Evigilare, a secret order which watches all types of paranormal activity, their motto is 'always here and ever watchful.' The 'Malus Conspicere' deals with the Ancients and their minions activities. This particular branch is almost as old as the order itself.

'Velcome, lady and gentlemen. I understand we all know why we are gathered here.' Von Hindenburg said in his booming voice.

The gathering sat around a large, antique wooden table, Von Hindenburg at the head. All 11 of them were wearing black hooded cloaks with a small crest of their order, 'Malus Conspicere,' (two blue tendrils wrapping around a jeweled two-edged sword, with the organization name in silver letters,) emblazoned on the left side of the chest.

One man uncomfortably looked around; all the other people seemed to know what was going on apart from him.

'Ah yes, Cooper. You arrived today, didn't you?' Von Hindenburg queried.

'Yes, Baron.' Cooper replied, starting to shift uneasily in his chair, under their gaze.

'Would you like to explain, De Bough?' Hindenburg asked the sullen faced man opposite Cooper.

'As you probably know our order so far has been a passive one, observing humanities struggle with the ancients for the pastthousand years but not to intervene. However the ancients are weak and Mantarok is slowly dying in his tomb. We have been forced to revive an ancient – Ulyoath namely. His guardians have been killing off lesser members every week for the past few months, his demands have been written in blood in a letter received a couple of days ago.' He said stiffly, in his posh French accent. 'To "Give a sacrifice!...outside the morgue of Berlin, lest I bring death upon all of you!" But we are still undecided on what action to take. If we give in now, will it demand more? '

'We have no choice but to give in!' Hindenburg cut in. De Bough stared at him with malice; the two had a struggle for power of this section of the organization several years before and Hindenburg had come out on top. The younger man settled for second-in-command but was still resentful towards him.

'What will we do then? It seems hopeless!' Cooper said.

'What do we all think? I suggest we give a sacrifice and it will not be appeased with any lesser member! It will have to be one of us!' Hindenburg glanced at each of their faces in turn. 'Every one in favour raise their hand!'

They all voted unanimously.

Hindenburg's face darkened. 'We will decide by the urn.' Which had been placed in the centre of the table. 'Each of us shall draw out a pebble; the person with the black stone will be the sacrifice.'

Everyone looked timidly at the urn; the Baron saw that he should set the example by going first. He dipped his hand in and it emerged clasping a white stone. The others followed suit, each drawing out a pebble until only DeBourgh remained.

He started to perspire. 'I don't see the point of taking one out!'

'Very well, meet me in the hall at eleven o'clock tomorrow night. That will give you enough time to finish any business you have left undone.' He morbidly informed him, raising himself from his seat. 'I am tired; I think I will go to my bed chamber!'

He rose and strode out of the room. The others did the same, their eyes averted from DeBourgh as they left. He remained deep in meditation, he felt as condemned men have felt for eons. The despair of not being able of help themselves and the fear of what was to come. He did not sleep that night, since he felt that he would soon be in eternal slumber. Instead he decided to read some books from the library on witchcraft, to learn some spells which may come in useful.

The day's light was slowly fading and the night was approaching swiftly. DeBourgh leant his head against the Limousine's window, which had been misted by his breath. It felt a shame to die on a cold winter's night, so near Christmas, he thought to himself.

Beside him sat the Baron. He had insisted on coming with him to give him moral support, yet he knew the real reason was to make sure that he did not try to flee. This was unnecessary since DeBourgh was an honourable man and would die if it would save others.

The car came to a halt. They had reached their destination. DeBourgh sorrowfully opened the door; he winced at the surge of cold and the bitter wind, if only for a second, then made his way towards the morgue. He turned back once towards the departing Limousine, how he longed to be back in there.

For several minutes he stood outside the morgue, unsure of what to do next. Then he heard a voice whisper to him, 'this way.' The entrance door swung open and he proceeded.

He followed the footsteps, until he came into the main body storage room of the facility. A few cadavers had been left out and what appeared to be partially eaten; he stepped forward to take a closer look. Immediately the door slammed shut and bolted.

He spun around to face his adversary. Before him stood, a man over six-foot tall with light graying hair, out of youth but not quite middle aged and piecing blue eyes. He gasped as he saw him, for he was looking upon himself.

'Not quite!' It said in the same French accent, although there was something distinctly echoic, which was not present in the originals.

'What are you?' DeBough asked, taking a few steps back.

The clone did not reply, only let out an evil cackle. He walked towards one of the cadavers lying on the examination table. It stroked its head affectionately and whispered something of another language to it. Immediately a creature burst forth from its chest in spray of blood.

DeBough stared at it wide eyed and his mouth open in a silent scream. The clone approached him cautiously, DeBourgh stepped back until his back was against the wall.

'Don't be afraid! All at once you will understand, the universe will make sense and I will make you see past this veil. I have chosen you! I watched as each of you placed your hand in the urn and drew forth a stone – I made them pick the white ones. You're Hindenburg friend cheated you with the stones; he has strong psychic powers as well. However, none of them are worthy, except you…' he pinned him to the wall and licked the side of DeBourgh's face. DeBourgh shivered in disgust and tried to break free but the clone only tightened his grip. Then kissed DeBourgh on the mouth and forced his tongue down his throat.

The being instantaneously changed into a dark liquid which poured down his throat, nose and every pore of his body. The being had disappeared inside him and DeBourgh was convulsing on the floor. Memories of his past flickered in his mind as his breathing was starting to desist. Then his heart ceased to beat and he closed his eyes.

He felt nothing. Yet he was still capable of thought. He opened his eyes to see if he was in the after life. But no, he was still on the morgue floor. The colours of the room around him were duller than before, everything save the bone thief. Suddenly his mind was filled with knowledge unbeknownst to him before. He understood what the being had told him and everything else as well for that matter.

He raised himself. But the man who rose was not the same as the one which had fallen. The two souls had merged together and this man had now taken on the power of Ulyoath into his very being. Ulyoath had him under his thrall, but he had one item of business which he had to undertake before he was to do its bidding – To gain vengeance on Von Hindenburg.


	4. Reality Hits

**Darkness is Ever Present**

**Author's Note:** The characters in the tome of the eternal darkness belong to the game, in addition so the ghosts. This is an explanation of my alteration to the storyline.

**Chapter 13:4 – Reality hits **

'_Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night sweet prince, And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.'_ –William Shakespeare

Seamus' mind had been tormented with nightmares ever since he had met Alex. 'Maybe the two things are linked.' He mused, staring at the ceiling of his bedroom. 'No! That's ridiculous!' He rolled onto his side. Although he was trying to sleep, he was not that desperate because he knew he would only wake in a cold sweat yet again –not particularly the nicest of experiences.

'Seamus…' The echoic voice of a woman called to him.

He sat upright. The hair on the back of his neck was on end and his breath misted up in front of him.

'Lindsey…' Another voice, male this time, called to him.

The ghostly figures appeared in front of him. The two stood before him; from their clothes he could tell that they were Arabic. The veiled woman was holding a book for him.

'Take it!' Ordered the man. 'It will aid you in fighting this darkness! Good luck!'

The ghosts vanished. Seamus blinked a few times and would have thought it a dream if it was not for the heavy tome lying on his lap. It was covered with a wrinkled leathery material and bound with what appeared to be human bones. There was a glowing purple rune on the front which was surrounded by shrunken human skulls with eyes that were, if he was seeing clearly, blinking.

He opened it up and random images flashed through his mind. First of a centurion becoming the herald of an insidious ancient; a dancing girl taking one of Mantarok's heart's into her body and is subsequently murdered by the centurion; then of a messenger boy becoming zombie-like and then dying at Charlemagne's feet; the man whose ghost he had just seen was formally a protector of a ancients essence and the woman had forced him to be so; then Maximillion Roivas a colonist whose brush with the ancients had left him an invalid in a mental asylum; the next chapter was of his father – Edwin Lindsey an archeologist who had uncovered a Cambodian temple and found a heart of Mantarok.

Seamus was outraged. His father had never mentioned this artifact or even his brush with ancients. For a while he was so annoyed that he could not read. However he anger subsided and curiosity got the better of him.

He opened the tome again and the images started where they had left off. The next chapter was about a monk who was on pilgrimage to see the hand of Jude during the time of the Inquisition, who happened to stumble upon a guardian protecting a Ancient's essence and resulted in his demise; then it was an architect during the mid-15th century who was sacrificed by being cemented in a pillar of flesh along with countless others; Next was a journalist in the first world war staying in a cathedral near the Somme, he came across the guardian protecting the essence, slay the beast then took the artifact.

The next story was about Edward Roivas – Alex's grandfather. Cogs were churning in Seamus' mind, things were starting to connect yet he could not make any assumption since he did not know the entire story. Edward Roivas had inherited his father's mansion in the year 1952 A.D and had uncovered steps to a hidden city under the mansion. The city was En'gha, a place where many had perished thousands of years ago. The place was devoid of life, save that of the shambling corpses, guardians and horrors which roamed the area. Edward had activated a Magickal spell which had wiped out all the undead creatures. In response to this – a slow one at that – Pious Augustus the Liche ordered a guardian to murder Edward 48 years after the event took place. Roivas was beheaded by the beast and no clues were left as to whom the killer might be. Seamus did the math and worked out that he was killed roughly around late April 2000 – eight months earlier.

'My God!' He thought, raising his head. 'I wonder if she knows of this!'

Once more he looked back at the tome and the images resumed; this time it was an American Firefighter who uncovered the temple of the Ancients under the sand when a freak wave of magickal energy enhanced the affect of the bomb, opening a chasm. After miraculously surviving the fall, he explored the temple. The ghost of the architect gave him an ancient's essence and told him to destroy the accursed place. The firefighter came across a strange Magickal abyss that glowed with a purple light. He exploded this with a bomb and hastily fled as it counted down. A few months later in New York, he arranged to see Dr. Roivas and gave him the essence before fleeing from the guardian sent to destroy him.

The next image was of Alex – in his surprise he dropped the book shut, so the visions stopped. Seamus quickly snatched up the book feverish to read more. Two weeks after inheriting the Mansion from her grandfather Alex had stumbled upon the tome in a secret room. She had read the stories of the chosen few destined to fight the darkness and had found she was the 'Guardian of Light,' the final hope for humanity. She had uncovered two of the relics herself - Mantarok's heart and along with Xel'lotath's essence. The last one, the claw of Chat'turgha was delivered by a vampire.

With the three essences both Alex and the vampire – Gemma set off down into the hidden city and opened a portal to where Pious was finishing the summoning spell for the Ancient Ulyoath. Alex and Pious fought, while Gemma watched on, occasionally helping Alex whenever she fell by attacking Pious, giving Alex enough time to heal herself. At other times she would curse at the slow spirits (Bianchi!) helping Alex to get a move on with their "vengeance".

Eventually Pious fell and started to give a speech. Alex held his staff above his chest waiting for the opportune moment to thrust it in.

'…no, my death is just the beginning…' Pious warned.

'What do you mean?' Alex demanded.

The vampire was growing impatient with both of them. 'Just give it to me!' She said snatching the staff from her hands.

'No! I want to kill him! Just wait 'till he's finished his bit!' Alex grabbed at the staff.

Gemma moved the staff out of Alex's reach, but accidentally plunged it into Pious' chest in the process.

'Aggghh!' Pious cried. A beam of light came out of his chest and his body became lifeless.

'You idiot! I was waiting to hear what he said!' Alex yelled.

'It was only empty threats! I know him well enough!'

'It might have been important! Now that information is lost to us forever and it's your entire fault!' Alex prodded Gemma in the stomach with her enchanted gladius.

The spirit of Edward Roivas appeared; partly to warn Alex that the ancient she had summoned was still loose, and partly from stopping their argument from becoming a brawl. However it was apparent that Alex could not pull the ancient back, so Edward vanished and decided to do it himself – by casting a spell on one of the magick enhancing towers in En'gha.

Meanwhile, Alex left the gate way via the portal and left Gemma to dispose of her maker as she saw fit. Gemma decided to bury Pious in her private cemetery in England and so flew back with the body. As she was just about to throw Pious unceremoniously in a whole she had dug earlier, her brother turned up with another male corpse. The two thought it funny to place the bodies in sexual positions, an amusement which lasted for hours until Pious' arm fell off. In their final act of desecration they dressed them as transvestites before placing them in the single grave one on top of the other.

Alex had returned to her studies at her university as if saving the world was nothing exceptional. Admittedly her dreams were full of distorted and terrifying images.

'That's it!' Seamus was outraged. 'It can't end like that! What a damn anti-climax!'

He flicked over to the next page. The only writing on it was the title of the next chapter – 'The Darkness is Ever Present,' along with the year –'2000 A.D' and the location 'Seattle.' Below was an old, black and white picture of himself with the tome in his hands. It appeared that the author was waiting to write his chapter until his story was ended.

He placed the book underneath his bed to stop any of his friends discovering it. He lay back in his bed and pondered upon its contents until sleep took hold of his fatigued body.


	5. Revenge is a dish best served cold

**Chapter 13: 5 - Revenge is a Dish best served cold!**

'_Revenge is the naked idol of the worship of a semi-barbarous age'_. –Percy Shelley

'Are you not hungry, _chef_?' The servant asked, picking up the plate of food that had hardly been touched from Hindenburg's desk.

Hindenburg was slouching over his papers, writing furiously and acted as if he had not heard the girl. She loitered unsure of whether to take away the food or not for over a minute, until the Baron bothered to reply.

'Take it, Harimanna. And tell the other servants and order colleagues not to interrupt me! I am terribly busy!'

She curtsied to him and left the room.

The business which Hindenburg was attending to was DeBourgh's funeral arrangements and he was also tinkering with his will. DeBourgh had a large fortune which would have gone to his niece except it was now left to Hindenburg. He had obtained the will from DeBourgh's safe. In his younger life, Hindenburg had been a safe cracker and the trade came back easily to him.

His plan was to alter the will and return it. No one would notice or if they did would be reluctant to argue with him.

A shadow cast across his desk. Hindenburg looked up. The figure was standing in the doorway; the bright light from the corridor prevented him from recognizing the person. The light from his table lamp was also not adequate enough to see his face, yet the height of the person was enough to show that it was a man.

The man walked closer. His walk was familiar to Hindenburg, but it could it be? I thought he was dead!

'You were wrong!' The voice proved Hindenbug's assumption.

'DeBourgh? How? I – we thought you were…dead!' He asked astonished.

DeBourgh laughed scornfully. 'You would!' He muttered under his breath.

Hindenburg hastily hid the legal documents underneath some random bits of paper. DeBourgh had now reached the table but his face was still hidden in shadow. He skattered the papers on top and snatched up his will.

'Hmm…interesting…I could have sworn I left nothing to you…do you know anything about this?' He asked, feinting ignorance.

'I…I can explain…' Hindenburg stuttered.

'Oh don't try to worm you're way out of this! I know what you're doing! I know that it is in your nature to do so! How do I know, I hear you ask.' He lowered his face down to Hindenburg's eyelevel, there noses almost touching. The next sentence DeBourgh pronounced each word emphatically but spoken in almost a whisper. 'Because I can hear you're thoughts!'

Hindenburg winced, not only from the words but also the fact that DeBourgh's face had decayed somewhat. He was struck so strongly with fear that he could not move, or talk.

'Yes…I look rather disgusting don't I?' He laughed evilly. 'But not as disgusting as you, you _gros ordure_! ¹ What I'm going to do to you, will make you wish- I apologise for the cliché but I'm going to make you wish you had never been born!'

Someone knocked at the door. Not waiting for a reply, they entered. It was a man and a woman, both considerably young members of the order. The rushed up to Hindenburg's desk, Debourgh moved aside for them to get past. They had both been running for a considerable distance and had trouble getting the message out. 'DeBourgh's body had not been found! Some witnesses saw him enter the morgue but no one saw him come out! We've had people search the building but there is no trace…'

DeBourgh coughed to grab their attention. 'Maybe that's because I'm not dead!'

His face had returned to as it had been before he died. To anyone who could not see through the veil of reality he would have looked normal and appeared so to these people.

'Oh!' Cried the girl astonished.

'It was a false letter! Nothing to worry about! Tell everyone that I'm alright and the two of us are just going for a little trip, isn't that right?' He glared at Hindenburg, who was incapable of speaking because DeBourgh was holding his mouth shut through his psychic powers.

The couple accepted this explanation and departed. DeBourgh released Hindenburg's mouth after they had left. He took his opportunity to cry for help.

DeBourgh spun around and physically held his mouth shut. 'Don't even try!' He hissed. Then started to utter a spell on Hindenburg and his world went black.

He awoke to find himself strapped to what appeared to be a dissecting table, his shirt had been torn off and he was sweating profusely under the harsh light. He would have screamed but his mouth was gagged.

The door on his left swung open. DeBourgh approached him attired in a surgeon's uniform, complete with gloves and mask.

'Well! It seems we have to operate! Let me just show you some of the equipment, to put you're mind at ease.' He said mimicking a dentist.

He pushed the trolley, which had formally out of Hindenburg's line of sight, in front of him. Laid upon it were nasty looking knives and needles. DeBourgh picked up a few and started waving them in his face. It was evident that DeBourgh was enjoying himself.

'That's enough of that for now! Josephine!' He called. A bone thief bounded up to him, behaving in the manner of a dog. 'There's a good girl! Can you do a trick for me? The one you do so well! Upon this man!'

The bone thief obviously understood and jumped onto the table. It tore its way into Hindenburg's chest. He struggled on the bindings trying to escape. DeBourgh watched with an evil smile on his face. Hindenburg looked pleadingly at him but DeBough only laughed mockingly.

The fate DeBourgh had condemned Hindenburg was one of the worst conceivable. He would not die straight away, in time his body would succumb to old age. However in that time his mind would be forced into the back of his skull by the bone thief and his body would perform tasks he had no control over. DeBourgh could control him and thus DeBourgh gained the power he had so longed for.

¹German –'Boss.'

² French - 'Fat Bastard'


End file.
